This 1954 document from Imperial Oil Ltd, the Canadian subsidiary of Exxon, is a speech by A.R. Murdison, presented to the National Association of Corrosion Engineers, regarding corrosion control efforts on the “Sarnia Products Pipe Line.” This document is part of the ClimateFiles Imperial Oil document set, gleaned by DeSmog researchers from the Glenbow Imperial Oil Archive Collection.

Among his comments about the measurements and design of the pipeline, Murdison notes that even a very small leak in the pipeline can cause massive damage: “The actual loss of metal will be small, but it takes only a very small hole to make a sizeable leak in such a pipe line.”

Murdison also makes multiple references to the wives and daughters of farmers who might object to the pipeline: “At this point we enter upon the practical aspects of corrosion control – barbed wire fences, wet boots, irate farmers and their legendary daughters…” “On the next site we encountered the old practical aspect again. This time it appeared in two forms – one was solid rock at about four feet, and the other was the landowner’s wife at about 212 degrees.” Murdison also mocks the concern of the farmers about the installation of a pipeline, noting that “It is very hard to convince a farmer that electric apparatus is not necessarily lethal.”